Kant et al.

(1998)

USA

Pre-Post

N=13

Population: TBI; Mean Age=37.6yr; Gender: Male=10, Female=3; Injury Severity: Mild=5, Moderate=6, Severe=6; Mean Time Post Injury=2yr.

Intervention: Participants with aggression received sertraline (50-200 mg/day) for 8 wk. Assessments were conducted at 4wk and 8wk.

Outcome Measure: Overt Aggression Scale-Modified (OAS-M), Anger Irritability Assault Questionnaire (AIAQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

1.         Significant improvement on OAS-M (p<0.001) and AIAQ (p<0.01) found at 4wk and 8wk.

2.         Significant improvement on BDI found at 4wk (p=0.04) but not 8wk (p=0.14).

Mysiw et al.

(1988)

USA

Pre-Post

N=20

Population: TBI; Mean Age=29.4yr; Gender: Male=18, Female=2.

Intervention: Participants with persistent agitation failing to respond to conventional behavioural techniques received amitriptyline (25-150 mg/day). Assessments were conducted at 1wk and follow-up.

Outcome Measure: Orientation Group Monitoring Scale (OGMS).

1.         Thirteen patients experienced significantly reduced levels of agitation after 1wk (p<0.001), which was maintained in the ensuing weeks (p<0.001) but did not significantly decrease from 1wk (p>0.6).

2.         Thirty percent of patients (n=6) experienced no significant change in agitation levels, despite increasing the dose at 1wk (p>0.7) and beyond (p>0.3).